Layer up lasagne sheets with a roasted vegetable and soy mince tomato sauce, mascarpone besciamella and melting mozzarella. The crowning glory is yet more cheese, sliced red onions and hot red and green chillies. A Desi touch.

The secret to amazing vegetarian lasagne

Roasting the vegetables intensifies their natural flavours. Their sweetness caramelises and they release bags of savoury goodness.

I like to mash them to a chunky texture to encourage every last bit of flavour to season the tomato sauce.

Tomatoes and onions are a natural source of “umami” and they give my rich tomato sauce plenty of savouriness, without the meat.

The soy mince does a great job of adding texture and protein to this vegetarian lasagne recipe. Brown it off in some extra-virgin olive oil to really give this vegetarian lasagne depth of flavour.

Can you freeze vegetarian lasagne?

This lasagne is great for feeding a big family, so leftovers are likely. Thankfully it freezes perfectly, too.

To freeze this lasagne: Cook the lasagne completely as directed in the recipe. Allow it to cool completely and then transfer portions to freezer-safe containers. Seal with a tight-fitting lid or wrap with cling film.

To freeze a whole lasagne: Wrap it in plenty of cling film. Make sure the dish it’s in is freezer safe. It stores well in the freezer for up to 6 months.

To reheat a whole lasagne: Allow the lasagne to defrost at room temperature and bake at 200°C/400°F until golden and bubbly, about 35 minutes.

To reheat individual portions of lasagne: Allow the lasagne to defrost at room temperature and bake at 200°C/400°F until golden and bubbly, about 20 minutes depending on the portion size.

What to serve with vegetarian lasagne

It’s one of my favourite cold-weather comfort foods and a sure-fire crowd pleaser at Christmastime. On this occasion, I pair my veggie lasagne with all the best festive sides: sprouts, carrots, roast potatoes and parsnips.

Some of the best accompaniments for lasagne have to be garlic bread, salad and fries. A full-on carbfest is what wintry evenings call for.

Failing this, I always find some leafy greens and broccoli with garlic make for an excellent side. Or Tandoori Hasselback Potatoes. Or a simple fresh tomato salad. Let’s be real, I’d eat lasagne with just about anything!

How to make vegan lasagne

To make this veggie-friendly lasagne suitable for vegans, you’ll need to replace all the dairy components with suitable alternatives. Swap out the mascarpone for a plant-based cream cheese.

The milk can be switched for your favourite kind of non-dairy milk, such as soy milk, oat milk or almond milk. In place of butter, use olive oil or a vegan spread.

To layer and top the lasagne, try a rice-based mozzarella (there are lots of recipes online like this one) or simply buy a vegan cheese blend from your local supermarket. The options are so vast these days so please don’t feel limited.

How to make gluten-free Roasted Vegetable & Mascarpone Lasagne

Simple! Instead of using plain flour in the mascarpone besciamella, use your favourite gluten-free flour blend. Choose gluten-free lasagne sheets at your supermarket.

What is in vegetarian lasagne?

My recipe uses a medley of Mediterranean-style veggies but you can raid the fridge and use up anything you have. I like to add the following vegetables:

• Aubergine
• Courgette
• Peppers (bell peppers/capsicum)
• Cherry tomatoes
• Onions
• Garlic

However, you can also throw in mushrooms, squash, leafy greens like spinach or kale, carrots, celery and fennel. The world is your lasagne.

Do I have to add soy mince to this Roasted Vegetable & Mascarpone Lasagne?

Not at all. If soy mince or non-meat meats aren’t your thing, you can simply substitute the soy mince for more vegetables.

If you’d still like some protein, try throwing in a tin of cooked chickpeas or mashed firm tofu in lieu of soy mince. Very finely chopped mushrooms are also a delicious soy substitute.

Should you let lasagne rest before cutting it?

Yes! I know you’re probably super eager to dig in, but you should always let your lasagne rest before you cut it. Allow the lasagne to stand for 20 minutes before serving.

This will give the pasta time to become one with the sauce so it doesn’t turn to slop when you try to slice it. Don’t worry, it will still be incredibly hot inside after this time.

My lasagne-making essentials

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Roasted Vegetable & Mascarpone Lasagne recipe

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Roasted Vegetable & Mascarpone Lasagne

A hot, gooey and bubbling veggie lasagne fresh from the oven. Layer up lasagne sheets with a roasted vegetable and soy mince tomato sauce, mascarpone besciamella and melting mozzarella.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean

Keyword cheese, christmas, lasagne, vegetables

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Sanjana

Equipment

• Oven-safe baking dish. I used a 30cm x 19cm x 7cm deep lasagne dish.

Ingredients

For the roasted vegetables:

• 1 courgette cut into half moons
• 1 aubergine cut into chunks
• 2 red onions peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 peppers cut into chunks
• 80 g cherry tomatoes
• 1 bulb garlic unpeeled
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 75 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 75g soy mince soaked in hot water, rinsed well and squeezed of excess water (or use 100g frozen)

For the rest of the lasagne:

• 500 g tomato passata
• 200 ml water
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 10g fresh basil leaves torn
• 400 g dried lasagne sheets
• 200g g mozzarella torn
• 1/2 red onion, finely sliced
• 50 g Cheddar
• 2 chillies finely sliced
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

For the mascarpone besciamella (white sauce):

• 50g plain flour
• 75g butter
• 800 ml full-fat milk
• 250 g mascarpone
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
• In a large roasting tray, combine the chopped vegetables, garlic cloves in their skins, olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Toss well to coat and roast in the oven for 40 minutes whilst you make the tomato sauce.

For the tomato sauce:

• Heat two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the chilli flakes, dried oregano and garam masala. Sauté for 10-15 seconds and then add the soy mince. Cook the mince for 5-6 minutes until it's very lightly browned in places.
• Add the passata and water. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir well. Bring to the boil and add the torn basil leaves. Stir and cover. Cook over a medium-low heat for 25 minutes.

For the mascarpone besciamella (white sauce):

• Melt butter in a pan. Once the butter begins to foam, add the flour and stir well. Cook the flour out over a low heat for about a minute. Do not let the flour brown. Switch the heat off.
• Stirring or whisking all the time, add the milk. Once the mixture is free from lumps, switch the heat back on to medium and add the mascarpone and salt. Whisk well until completely smooth.
• Continue to cook the sauce, stirring all the time until it has thickened. Make sure not to let the sauce catch on the bottom of the pan. It's ready when the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Switch the heat off and set the sauce aside.

To finish the tomato sauce:

• Once the vegetables have finished roasting, allow them to cool slightly. Slip the garlic cloves out of their skins and add them back into the tray. Roughly mash the vegetables. This will give us tonnes of flavour and a more uniform sauce.
• Add the mashed roasted vegetables to the tomato sauce and stir well. Taste to check the seasoning. Set aside.

To build the lasagne:

• Take a deep lasagne dish or baking tray. Add a small amount of the tomato sauce to the bottom and layer in some lasagne sheets. Top with more tomato sauce, some torn mozzarella and more lasagne sheets. Try to alternate the direction of you pasta layers so the finished lasagne has good structure.
• Cover the lasagne with some of the mascarpone besciamella and top with more lasagne sheets. Repeat the layering process, alternating between the sauces until everything has been used up. The final layer should be the white sauce. In total, I got 8 layers of pasta and used 24 lasagne sheets in my 30cm x 19cm x 7cm deep lasagne dish.
• Top the lasagne with grated Cheddar, any leftover mozzarella, red onions, chillies and a final drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
• Bake in the preheated oven at 200°C/400°F for 25 minutes. After this, turn the heat down to 160°C and continue to bake for a further 25-30 minutes. If the top starts browning too much, cover the lasagne loosely with aluminium foil.
• Allow the lasagne to stand for 20 minutes before serving. This will give the pasta time to become one with the sauce so it doesn't turn to slop when you try to slice it. Don't worry, it will still be incredibly hot inside after this time.

Video

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What to serve with this lasagne

Tandoori Hasselback Potatoes

These beautiful Tandoori Hasselback Potatoes are super simple to prepare and taste amazing too. With hedgehog-like slits all across the surface, the skin becomes ultra-crispy and the inside remains soft and fluffy.

Check out this recipe

Masala Chips & Vegan Avocado Mayo

The ultimate recipe for Masala Chips & Vegan Avocado Mayo. Made from homemade chips and the perfect blend of Indian-style masalas. Serve them with my smooth and creamy avocado mayo for a vegan take on this street food favourite.

Check out this recipe

Pull-Apart Samosa Bread

My Pull-Apart Samosa Bread is packed with spicy vegetable samosa filling. If you’re craving those ever-popular Indian snacks, but want something a little out of the box for your next party, this is the recipe for you.

Check out this recipe

Crispy Popcorn Bhindi Bites

Crispy, spiced nuggets of okra served with a hot and spicy vegan mayo. Put the natural stickiness of okra to work by creating a "glue" for crunchy panko breadcrumbs and coconut. Fry or bake for a delicious, golden snack. Once you start, you won't be able to stop eating. Dip them in my Atomic Red Chilli Mayo for addictive heat!

Check out this recipe

Chilli-Garlic & Lime Mogo

What I love about mogo is its earthy flavour, which truly comes to life when it’s gently steamed or boiled. It’s so distinct, you’d know within a split second that someone is making ‘bafelo mogo’ (steamed cassava). It reminds me of the beautiful Mombasa sunshine. This chilli, garlic and lime version is a favourite in our British-Indian-East African home. Follow my tips for perfectly-crispy mogo chips without having to deep fry anything.

Check out this recipe

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If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for Creamy Saffron-Vegetable Pasta

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They’re…

• VEGAN
• NO SPECIAL FLOURS
• ZERO COCONUT OIL
• NO FLAXSEEDS, CHIA SEEDS, BANANAS OR APPLESAUCE
• FREE FROM COMMERCIAL EGG REPLACERS

These vegan cookies spread beautifully. This is thanks to @sarah_kieffer and her revolutionary #bangonapan pan-banging technique. Finally, the flavours are on another level of spectacular.

The perfect vegan cookie

Describing the qualities of a perfect cookie is almost as subjective as trying to describe what breed of dog is the cutest, which Avenger is the most badass or what the coolest kind of shark is. Everyone will give you a different answer.

My choices are as follows: Soft cookies with crispy edges, golden retrievers, Thor and hammerhead sharks. My momma didn’t raise no fool.

I’ve been testing this recipe for Vegan Pistachio & Vanilla Salt Cookies for a long time. I’m pleased to say that finally, even without eggs and dairy, they’re perfect. This is because the cookies spread beautifully. I’m overjoyed with how this batch turned out.

Moreover, they’re exactly how I like them — thin and crispy around the edges, with soft middles that’s cookie perfection right there. Each one is studded with dark chocolate chips and pistachio nibs. I made my own vanilla salt by infusing flaky Maldon sea salt with fragrant vanilla beans. This was sprinkled on top of the cookies whilst they were still warm, too. Amazing!

It’s honestly the most gorgeous thing. Not to mention, I now want to sprinkle vanilla salt over EVERYTHING!

Things to remember when make Vegan Pistachio & Vanilla Salt Cookies

Rest the cookie dough

Firstly, the cookie dough needs to rest for 24 hours. I know, it’s a test of willpower but in order for the flavours to develop, and the moisture and fats in the dough to hydrate and solidify correctly, this resting period is crucial. Make sure you start the day before if you want a perfectly-spread vegan chocolate chip cookie.

If you bake this dough straight away you’ll find the flavour is less pronounced and the texture is very soft and doughy. It will not have the crispiness and chewiness of rested dough. If you like your cookies to have a melt-in-the-mouth quality, go ahead a bake them straight away. This logic is not the same for all cookie recipes, however. It very much depends on the ingredients you use and how they are combined.

Fat, fat, fat

For example, a cookie made with coconut oil instead of vegan butter (equally proportional in the recipe) will yield a firmer, crispier cookie that spreads much less, even before resting because the vegan butter contains hydrogenated fat (basically fat + water) which also hydrates the dough and evaporates slowly whereas coconut oil is considered a pure, non-hydrogenated fat. Again, the final result depends on the combination of all the ingredients in a recipe, as each modification will produce different cookies in both taste and texture.

Replacing eggs

I’ve tried what feels like every trick in the book when it comes to replacing eggs in baking recipes (20 years+ experience), from boxed commercial egg replacers, to soy-based alternatives, applesauce, bananas, yoghurts and the oh-so fashionable aquafaba, flaxseed and chia seed “eggs”. I’m not discrediting the merit of any of them. Their effectiveness at replacing the binding and leavening agents of whole eggs is relative to the food you are making. In short, some egg replacers work better than others, depending on the recipe.

First you need to figure out the purpose of the egg in a particular recipe, and then work out what ingredient/s work best to substitute. For example, in my recipe, a combination of aquafaba, baking soda and cornflour do the job required to achieve my idea of the perfect chocolate chip cookie. That is to say that the cookie is golden and crispy around the outside and soft and crinkled in the middle.

A note on vegan chocolate

Hit up your favourite health food shop, well-stocked supermarket or online retailer for vegan chocolate chips. My current favourite is Sainsbury’s free from chocolate chips and Ombar Vegan Milk chocolate. If you can’t find vegan chocolate chips, chop up your favourite vegan chocolate bar for delicious chocolate chunk cookies with puddles of melted chocolate. I use two kinds of chocolate in my cookies for a more rounded flavour.

Pimp your Vegan Pistachio & Vanilla Salt Cookies

• Swap the pistachio nibs for chopped roasted hazelnuts or almonds.
• Use spelt flour for extra nuttiness or for a gluten-free version, use gluten free plain flour for a crispy chocolate chip cookie.
• Vanilla beans are important in the flavouring of this recipe but if you can’t get them, replace the vanilla in the dough with 1 tbsp good vanilla extract and sprinkle with plain sea salt flakes.

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Vegan Pistachio & Vanilla Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Perfectly soft and crisp vegan cookies studded with chocolate chips, pistachio nibs and flaky vanilla sea salt.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate chip cookies, cookies, vegan

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 18

Author Sanjana

Ingredients

• 320 g plain flour
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 200 g vegan butter
• 80 g soft, light brown sugar
• 80 g caster sugar
• 200 ml aquafaba, reduced down to 30ml cold
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• 100 g vegan chocolate chips and/or chopped vegan chocolate chunks
• 80 g pistachio nibs or roughly chopped pistachios

For the vanilla sea salt:

• 25 g flaky sea salt
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

Instructions

• In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and cornflour.
• In a separate bowl, add the vegan butter, sugars and the seeds from the vanilla pod (reserve the pod for the jar of vanilla salt later). Beat until light, pale and fluffy. Slowly beat in the aquafaba until smooth.
• Add half of the flour mixture into the beaten butter mixture and combine. Next, fold in the the rest of the flour mixture until you have a dough. Fold in the chocolate chips and pistachio nibs, reserving some chocolate chips to sprinkle on top halfway through baking.
• Use a medium-sized ice cream scoop or your hands to make the dough balls. Place them on the baking tray in rows leaving a small gap around each one. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 24 hours. You could also place into a lined airtight container and freeze for up to 6 months.
• To make the vanilla salt, gently mix together the sea salt flakes and vanilla bean seeds. Store in an airtight container along with the scraped vanilla pods used for the salt and cookies.
• When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 170˚C/350˚F. Line three large baking trays with baking parchment. If baking from frozen, add an additional 3 minutes on to the cooking time.
• Place the cold cookie dough balls onto the lined trays with enough room in between each for spreading.
• Bake for 5 minutes, remove from the oven and wearing oven gloves, firmly bang each tray on the worktop a few times to flatten the tops and encourage the cookies to spread. Sprinkle with a few flakes of vanilla salt and more chocolate chips if you like. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for a further 8 minutes (11 minutes if cooking from frozen), until lightly golden around the edges.
• Remove the trays from the oven and allow to cool slightly before eating. They’ll firm up as they cool down.

If you like these cookies, you’ll go LOOPY for these Baked Vegan Vanilla Doughnuts. You’re welcome!

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As I spy the bunches of 10-12 little green bananas, I know I’ll always need a lot of them to make the dish that’s whirring around in my mind. Matoke cook down like spinach and what looks like too much is somehow never quite enough. The dish I’m thinking about is Spicy Ugandan Matoke Mash. A staple curry of green bananas cooked with a handful of spices. My family version sees the Matoke pressure cooked until tender and then mashed with plenty of butter, softened onions, cumin, tomatoes and cinnamon.

The Indian diaspora in East Africa

The huge South Asian influence on the food culture of Uganda is beautifully-harmonious with the local style of cooking. Because of this assimilation of backgrounds, each dish that now exists is bold, hearty and as interesting as the local communities are. As a result, this Indian-style Matoke is just one way in which green bananas are prepared across Uganda.

It is often cooked simply with tomatoes, turmeric and salt, or added to stews as a filling carb in place of potatoes or cassava.

What I love about this Matoke recipe is that it celebrates those little green bananas for being a filling, delicious, staple ingredient in themselves. And they don’t taste like regular bananas at all! No need to add fancy ingredients, just a few store cupboard basics. Serve with soft-layered Chapattis (Chapos) and Kachumbari to make it a meal.

Veganise this Ugandan Matoke (Spicy Green Banana Mash)

Vegan? Switch the butter for your favourite vegan butter, Flora for example. Whatever you do, don’t be afraid of overdoing the spicing in this dish. You might think I’m mad for adding as much garlic and onions as the recipe calls for but I urge you to stick with it. The Matoke has a great texture but truth be told, it is bland. It needs flavours that can stand up to it so that the final dish is spicy, tangy, buttery and flavoursome. I promise you won’t regret peeling all that garlic.

Watch my video below and get the full recipe for this delicious Ugandan Matoke (Spicy Green Banana Mash).

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Ugandan Matoke (Spicy Green Banana Mash)

Spicy, tangy, buttery and flavoursome green banana curry from the Asian community of Uganda.

Course Main Course

Cuisine African

Keyword curry, green banana, matoke, ugandan

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Sanjana

Ingredients

• 10 Matoke small green bananas
• 125 g salted butter or vegan butter
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 large onions chopped
• 8 cloves garlic
• 2 green chillies
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes 300g
• 1 tbsp concentrated tomato purée
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• Chapos East African Layered Chapattis, to serve

Instructions

• In a large, non-stick pan, melt the butter. Add the cumin seeds and chopped onions. Sauté the onions over a medium heat until lightly golden, about 8 minutes.
• Add the garlic, chillies and concentrated tomatoe purée and cook for a further 2 minutes.
• Next, add the chopped tomatoes. Cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes.
• Top and tail the Matoke. Cut each one in half and slit the skin of each half lengthways. Pop these into a pressure cooker and fill with 500ml water. Pressure cook for 3 whistles and then switch off the heat. If you don’t have a pressure cooker you’ll need to boil the Matoke in a big pan of water with a lid until tender, about 30 minutes.
• Allow the Matoke to cool until you can just about handle them. They need to be hot. This is really important. If you let them cool down too much they will become super starchy and be hard to mash, leaving you with a lumpy finish. Peel the Matoke and mash them with a potato masher until smooth.
• Add the mashed Matoke to the tomato and onion mixture and cook on a medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring all the time. The butter should start to separate from the Matoke at the sides of the pan. Now add the cinnamon, salt, lemon juice, black pepper and chopped coriander and mix thoroughly.
• Serve immediately with hot Chapos (chapattis).

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Psst… If you like this recipe, you’ll go BANANAS for this 20-Minute Channa Bateta (Kenyan Chickpeas and Potatoes in Coconut Broth).

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The smell of fresh doughnuts frying is like nothing else. If they bottled it, I’d wear it as perfume, leaving a faint whiff of “funfair” trailing behind me everywhere I’d go. You’d smell me coming a mile away and know I’d been around hours after I’d gone. From a purely practical point of view (and not at all a gluttonous one), this would also make me a very hard person to kidnap. I should probably stop watching so many Netflix true crime shows.

Back to doughnuts.

My vegan doughnut dough has a stretchy-smooth quality, as well as a slight sweetness which I find hopelessly irresistible once fried. Despite being made up of flour, sugar and oil, each pillowy puff is lighter than air. A combination of almond milk, lemon, yeast and baking powder give them an ethereal weightlessness that you only get when you eat them hot, as soon as they’re made. I defy anyone to spot the lack of eggs and dairy in this recipe.

In my book, no variety of cakey baked doughnut comes close to the utterly fuzzy feeling you get from eating a yeasted, fried doughnut. It of course, involves hot oil and for you to set aside a bit of therapeutic baking time but there are moments you can break away to catch up on your favourite TV show, drink wine and/or have a power nap. The results are special and not at all cake like. The dough needs to be left to rise and this is when the magic happens. Keep it in a warm place like an airing cupboard or even in the oven with just the light left on inside.

Swap almond milk for soy milk or oat milk if you want to make a nut-free version of these doughnuts — both work beautifully. Over the years I’ve realised you can add most of the ingredients to the hot milk mixture with little to no compromise on results, which makes the dough-making process much easier. There’s no adding of butter in stages involved either. Reserve the salt and baking powder and add them to the flour mixture. Once the warm-ish milk hits the flour, all of those lovely raising agents join forces to work their magic as the gluten in the flour develops through the kneading process. You can use your hands to knead the dough if you have arms of steel and the stamina to do it for 25 minutes or so. I do not have such superpowers and my stand mixer is my friend.

More ideas: You can switch the cardamom sugar for cinnamon sugar and fill these with your favourite thick vegan custard instead of jam. Or better yet, fill them with both jam and custard. I’ve done this before and I don’t want to say everyone liked me more that week, but they definitely did. Vegan lemon curd is also a noble choice of filling and it works particularly well with cardamom sugar. I have also successfully steeped my warm milk with saffron strands for a saffron flavoured doughnut and it was dreamy, like the best marriage of Indian mithai and a classic funfair doughnut. Be creative and report back with your results. I’d love to hear from you.

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Vegan Raspberry Jam Doughnuts with Cardamom Sugar

Pillowy puffs of vegan doughnut goodness! These sweet treats are filled with sharp raspberry jam and coated with a spectacular cardamom sugar. You won’t be able to stop at just one.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Indian

Keyword cardamom, dessert, doughnuts, jam, vegan

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Author Sanjana

Ingredients

• 500 g strong white bread flour plus 20g for rolling out
• 12 g fast-action dried yeast
• 40 g caster sugar
• 100 g vegan margarine
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 250 ml unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 L rapeseed oil for deep frying

For the filling:

• 200 g your favourite shop-bought or homemade raspberry jam I prefer seedless

For the cardamom sugar:

• 150 g caster sugar
• 4 cardamom pods seeds removed and crushed to a powder

Instructions

• Place the flour, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.
• Next, add the milk, butter, sugar and vanilla to a saucepan and heat over a low heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool at room temperature to about 38°C/100°F or just warm. Add the lemon juice and yeast and stir. Set aside for ten minutes.
• Add the milk mixture to the stand mixer and switch it on to slow. Once the mixture has come together, knead on medium-high speed for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on your mixer to ensure it doesn’t overheat or climb its way across the worktop (I speak from experience here). Once the dough is soft and smooth, the dough is ready to proof.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and grease the sides of the bowl with a tablespoon of oil. Return the dough to the bowl and cover with a clean, damp tea towel. Allow to rest in a warm place for 60 minutes, until it has doubled in size.
• Knock the risen dough back to remove large air bubbles but do not knead it again. Dust your work surface with flour and roll the dough out until it’s about 2cm in thickness. Use a round cookie cutter to stamp out circles of dough and arrange on a tray lined with parchment paper. Leave some space between them, as you don’t want them to stick together while they prove again.
• Cover loosely with cling film and leave in a warm place for for 30 minutes.
• To make the cardamom sugar, mix together the sugar and ground cardamom in a bowl.
• Fill a heavy-based saucepan halfway with oil. Heat the oil to 175°C/350°F.
• When the oil is heated, carefully slide the doughnuts from the tray using a floured spatula. Taking care not to deflate them, put them into the oil. Do 2-3 per batch, depending on the size of your pan. Don’t overcrowd the pan. I did 2 at a time.
• Fry for 2 minutes on each side until golden brown. They will puff up and float to the top of the oil, so you will need to gently move them around the pan to ensure they colour evenly.
• Remove the doughnuts from the fryer and place them on kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.
• Place the jam in a bowl and microwave on high power for 20 seconds. Stir well to loosen slightly.
• Fit a piping bag with a medium, round tip. Using a straw, make a small hole in the side of each doughnut, about halfway until it reaches the centre. Fill the doughnut with the warm raspberry jam through this hole, about two teaspoons of jam per piece. Repeat for the remaining doughnuts.
• Gently roll the doughnuts in the cardamom sugar until evenly coated. Serve warm.

Notes

Store the doughnuts covered and at room temperature. Best consumed within 24 hours. Will they all be eaten before then? Definitely.

The post Vegan Raspberry Jam Doughnuts with Cardamom Sugar appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

You can use any kind of pasta shape for this dish. I recommend one with ridges to catch the creamy sauce in all the nooks and crannies. I used tripoline but fusilli, cavatappi and conchiglie would all work well. I love all kinds of pasta but have always thought there’s something quite magical about long shapes that you can twirl around your fork. Maybe I’m just a sucker for playing with my food.

The recipe itself uses just a handful of ingredients to showcase the beautiful roasted squash and kale. You can easily veganise the sauce by swapping the mascarpone for your favourite vegan cream cheese. Top with grated dairy-free Cheddar or mozzarella for a final flourish of the good stuff.

When it comes to pasta, I’m partial to a crispy, bubbly top. If you are too, you can sprinkle over some extra cheese and grill until leopard-spotted and gooey.

I ate this out of the pan as soon as I’d finished photographing it. No regrets.

Most people would say this recipe serves 6 but in my house, it serves 4. Who am I to tell you how much pasta to eat? Use my pasta measurements as a guideline for the pasta:sauce ratio and enjoy every last bit of this one-bowl wonder!

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Squash & Mascarpone Pasta with Crispy Kalettes

This creamy pasta makes for a satisfying one-bowl dinner. It’s the ultimate comfort food and has just a tingle of spice to keep you warm. The pasta is combined with a silky roasted butternut squash and mascarpone sauce before being topped with crispy kalettes (little kale sprouts) and fried sage.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian, Italian

Keyword butternut squash, cheesecake, kale, pasta

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Sanjana

Ingredients

• 250 g pasta of your choice I used tripoline
• 1 large butternut squash peeled and cubed (about 1kg)
• 2 large cloves garlic sliced
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp olive oil + 1 tsp
• 20 sage leaves
• 160 g kalettes
• 250 g mascarpone
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Fresh parsley to garnish (optional)
• Grated cheese I like Cheddar, to garnish (optional)

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F.
• First, fry the sage leaves in 2 tbsp olive oil until dark green and crispy. Remove from the oil and set aside on kitchen paper to cool and crisp up further. Keep the oil you used to cook them in — we’re going to toss the squash in this.
• Peel and cube the butternut squash. Toss with 1/2 tsp sea salt, fennel seeds and the olive oil used to cook the sage leaves. Place this in the oven to roast, about 30-35 minutes.
• Place the kalettes on a baking tray and drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil. Coat the kalettes well and once the squash has been in the oven for 20 minutes, pop the kalettes in for the remainder of the cooking time. They should take about 10-12 minutes to crisp up.
• Remove the squash and kale from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
• Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water, according to packet instructions.
• Blend together half of the squash, mascarpone and 60ml of the pasta cooking water. Be sure to include all that roasted garlic. Season with chilli flakes and 1 tsp salt.
• Drain the pasta and immediately toss the pasta with the sauce. Top with the crispy kalettes, remaining squash cubes and fried sage leaves. Garnish with chopped parsley and grated cheese, if desired. Serve piping hot.

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Tripoline pasta combined with a silky roasted butternut squash and mascarpone sauce before being topped with crispy kalettes (little kale sprouts) and fried sage. I can’t think of anything more perfect for a cosy night in.

The post Squash & Mascarpone Pasta with Crispy Kalettes appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

I was seven years old and obsessed with baking with my mum in the little kitchen above our corner shop. It was our home for the first ten years of my life and the place where I first fell in love with food and the idea of cooking.

Cakes eluded me as I never indulged in them at friends’ birthday parties. Like many Gujarati Hindus, we are a family of lacto-vegetarians so don’t eat eggs.

My mum never wanted us to miss out so she would test recipes for the perfect fluffy eggless sponge cakes for us at home.

A hundred iterations of cakes made with everything from condensed milk and sour cream, to custard powder and buttermilk. I’d watch intently the whole time, soaking up the baking smells and tips.

We baked them in the oven and cooked them in the microwave, in silicone liners and traditional tins. No stone was left unturned in the eggless cake department.

Of course, each experiment came with its own set of unique results; Sometimes they were good, sometimes they were a total flop. The fun part was always in the time we spent with one another rather than in getting the recipe totally right.

For a kid my age, any cake was good cake. Weighing out the ingredients, mixing the batter and sitting in front of the oven waiting for it to “ping” was just one part of the mother-daughter bonding experience.

We’d talk about all things food and she’d tell me about her childhood, learnings and lessons for life. We still do this now, almost 25 years and hundreds of cakes later.

You’ll be pleased to know that after years of testing and more cake fails than I can count, we did finally nail the perfect eggless vanilla cake recipe. Here it is, in cupcake form, ready to see in my 30th birthday this month. Yep, I’m T-H-I-R-T-Y now. And a mum to the most lovely little boy. How times have changed since starting this blog as a carefree, party-loving twenty year-old student.

My eggless vanilla birthday cupcakes are light, white, fluffy and super moist with lots of vanilla flavour. I’ve baked sprinkles into the sponge because there’s nothing more exciting than funfetti. It just screams, “Happy Birthday!” and I’d have freaked for these cakes when I was a kid.

The best thing is that the recipe uses simple, easy-to-obtain ingredients rather than commercial egg-replacers (I have tried every egg replacer under the sun and none of them produce a better cake than this recipe, regardless of how expensive they are).

You don’t need a fancy mixer either. Use a bowl, a regular whisk and a spatula for the recipe for the best results.

The frosting is a simple, American-style crusting buttercream which is easy to pipe/spread and sets up beautifully. I kept it a plain ivory colour but you can colour it to your favourite shade if you like.

I recommend using gel or paste food colours such as Wilton, Sugarflair or Americolor. These will ensure the frosting doesn’t become too slack which can be a problem with liquid food colours.

Watch the recipe video to see exactly how I make these at home. The recipe has been tried and tested dozens of times and I always get perfect results. You’re going to love them!

Here are some of my best learnings from baking a million eggless cakes over the years for both weddings and just for the family at home. I’ve tried to answer as many as I can here but if you can’t see the answer to a question you have, drop a comment below and I’ll get back to you.

Q. Is there a single egg replacer that works for all baking recipes?
A. There’s not a one-size-fits-all answer as the techniques and make-up of different bakes all require different approaches and ingredients. E.g. Mashed banana, flax eggs  and applesauce are fine for eggless bakes like banana cake, dense muffins and crumb cake but they don’t work so well in vanilla cakes. The eggless cake would end up tasting of those ingredients rather than having the light, white, fluffy texture we all want in a good vanilla cake. I also tend to stay away from using these in vanilla cake baking because the results can be a bit too unpredictable.

Q. Can I swap the sugar in the recipe for honey/coconut sugar/agave/sweetener? Can I reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe?
A. No. Sugar helps proteins bind and form a good structure in cakes. In the absence of eggs, sugar plays a vital role in binding proteins, forming a good crumb and holding the cake together. Using liquid-based ingredients like honey will change the texture of final cake. Coconut sugar and sweetener have a different make-up to regular sugar too and swapping them in place of sugar will also change the final result of the eggless cake.

Q. My eggless cake is tough. Where did I go wrong?
A. Overworked batter can produce a dense, tough cake. This is the case with all cakes, not just the eggless kind. If you overbeat a cake, the in the flour gluten develops to unwanted levels and this will result in tough, stodgy eggless cakes.

Q. Can I swap the white cake flour for wholemeal flour?
A. Technically yes, you could. Having said this, your eggless cake will be darker in colour and heavier than if you were to use a refined white flour. I’ve found that extra-fine self-raising sponge flour produces the best results by a country mile if you’re looking for a fluffy, white eggless cake.

Q. Why do you use full-fat milk powder?
A. Sugar bonds with proteins to give the cake batter a strong structure. Milk powder contains protein which will bind with the sugar to give the eggless cake a strong, fine crumb, helping it rise in the oven and most importantly, hold its shape. The cornflour and raising agents also help these along.

Q. Can I veganise your eggless cake recipe?
A. Yes, you can but again, the texture and flavour of the finished cake may vary slightly. Increase the flour by 1 tbsp, switch the milk for unsweetened almond milk (at room temperature), and use 2 tbsp aquafaba (reduced from 4 tbsp and chilled) in place of milk powder. If you’re making this funfetti vanilla cake recipe, please ensure your sprinkles are suitable for vegans. The butter in the frosting can be swapped with your favourite vegan spread (the soft kind in a tub, not a block). Swap the milk in the frosting for unsweetened almond milk at room temperature.

Q. My cakes are dry. Where did I go wrong?
A. They are overbaked. Ensure you’re baking them for the stated time at the correct temperature. Most domestic ovens tend to be a few degrees out but an internal oven thermometer can help ensure your oven is set at the right temperature. If you don’t have an internal oven thermometer you could also increase or reduce the cooking time depending on whether your cakes are overbaking or underbaking.

Q. Can I use condensed milk in place of sugar and milk in this recipe?
A. I wouldn’t. I’ve baked so many cakes with condensed milk before and whilst they smell amazing in the oven, they are caramelising in the oven and produce dark brown crusts and sponges that are pretty unpleasant to eat. They’re often dense and heavy too (fine for some cakes but not if you want fluffy white eggless cakes).

Q. Can I add cocoa powder to make this a chocolate cake?
A. The make-up of eggless vanilla cakes and eggless chocolate cakes are super different and although some ingredients may be the same, the proportions are not. I’d recommend using a chocolate cake recipe, such as this Eggless Malted Chocolate Whipped Ganache Cake if you want to make a chocolate cake. Adding cocoa powder (as it is a dry ingredient) to this recipe will change the texture and you would then have to adjust the liquid ingredients to make up for the increased quantity of dry ingredients.

Q. Why do you add oil instead of butter?
A. In eggless cakes, an oil-based batter will result in a moist, fluffy cake. I’ve found that using butter results in a much firmer cake with a larger crumb.

Q. Why does the milk need to be at room temperature?
A. Room temperature milk will ensure the milk and vinegar mixture curdles quickly and adequately. If you’re short of time, microwave cold milk from the fridge on high power in 15 second intervals for a total of 30 seconds, stirring in between.

Q. Why add the additional baking powder if you’re using self-raising flour?
A. After a lot of testing, I’ve found the extra leavening from the baking powder gives the eggless cakes an extra lift for a super fluffy result.

This recipe makes 12 standard-sized cupcakes or 9 if you’re using muffin cases).

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Fluffy Eggless Vanilla Birthday Cupcakes

My eggless vanilla birthday cupcakes are light, white, fluffy and super moist with lots of vanilla flavour. I’ve baked sprinkles into the sponge because there’s nothing more exciting than funfetti.

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes minutes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 170 g extra-fine self-raising cake flour
• 150 g caster sugar
• 240 ml full-fat milk at room temperature
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract not vanilla essence
• 2 tbsp full-fat milk powder
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 90 ml sunflower oil
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 tbsp colourful sprinkles not nonpareils

For the buttercream:

• 150 g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 200 g icing sugar
• 1 tbsp whole milk at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 170°C/340°F. Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with 12 paper cupcake cases or 9 muffin cases.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, milk powder, cornflour, sugar and salt.
• In a separate jug or glass, mix together the milk, vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar. Set aside for 5 minutes, undisturbed. After 5 minutes, give it a brief whisk.
• Add the oil and milk mixture to the dry ingredients and gently whisk for 40-60 seconds until smooth. Don’t overbeat the cake batter or you could end up with tough cakes.
• At the last minute, fold in the sprinkles with a spatula. Be gentle and swift. Too much mixing will cause the colour from the sprinkles to bleed into the batter.
• Pour the batter into the paper cases, about 3/4 of the way full. Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of a cake comes out clean. They should be springy to the touch and not too brown on top.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.
• To make the frosting, beat together the butter and icing sugar until fluffy and pale, about 8 minutes. Add the vanilla extract, salt and milk. Beat for a further 5 minutes until thick, light and creamy.
• Frost the cooled cupcakes however you like. I love using the Wilton 1M tip fitted in a piping bag for cute, simple ruffles and rosettes. You could also just spread the frosting on using a spatula if you like. Top with extra sprinkles (as many as you like). Candles are optional, but make any cake infinitely more fun.
• If you’re eating the cakes on the same day, know that frosting is the best way to preserve your cakes and keep them from going stale. If you’re keeping them for the another day, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Remove from the fridge an hour before serving to soften the cakes and frosting.
• Alternatively, you can bake this cake in a greased and lined 15cm (6-inch) round x 7cm (3-inch) deep at 160°C/320°F for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in to the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then flip it out onto a wire rack to cool before decorating.

Video

Love Sanjana

The post Sanjana’s Fluffy Eggless Vanilla Cupcakes appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

Most of you will know that it’s been my long-term dream to have a surprise birthday tandoor at home. Well I still don’t have one. However, my parents bought me a ginormous and Indian-style stacking steamer for my 28th birthday and it’s the best! It’s not beautiful and fancy, it’s a commercial appliance that doesn’t quite fit in my kitchen cupboard unless it’s disassembled. But it’s quickly become my favourite thing. It has multiple layers, baskets and a tight-fitting lid that fluffs up dhokra, muthiya and khichi perfectly.

Khichi, khichu, khichiya and papdi no lot are all names for one iconic Gujarati savoury snack made with rice flour and a few very basic spices. It can be prepared and served in a number of different ways depending on the particular family style and recipe. My favourite way is to shape and steam the rice flour dough for perfect little pucks with a chewy dumpling texture. Other popular methods include cooking it in a pan from start to finish, pressure cooking or even microwaving it.

Traditionally, khichi or papdi no lot (which literally translates to “cooked dough” is served with a bowl of oil. No BS, a bowl of regular plant-based oil like groundnut, sunflower or vegetable oil. Not olive oil, not ghee, not butter. Just oil. I liken it to dipping bread in olive oil in the West, except the point is not to add flavour, but to transform the texture of the dish. The reason why it makes so much sense is because it completely changes the texture of the dish. A slick of oil on the khichi after steaming stops them sticking together and dipping them in oil whilst eating gives the chewy rice flour dumplings a soft, slippery texture that’s not entirely unlike the feeling of eating buttered noodles. Growing up with something as comforting as that gives the most intense cravings!

The combination of ingredients in khichi are always a simple mix so you can really taste the rice flour base. Usually it’s cumin, ginger, salt and chillies. Turmeric and garlic are optional extras. Fresh turmeric is option and adds a gorgeous raw mango flavour and intense colour. I add a little bicarbonate of soda to my khichi to lighten them up a little and ensure they’re not overly dense. They puff up a touch when they steam. Note that adding turmeric and bicarbonate of soda will give your khichi a slight orange hue. You could choose to skip the bicarbonate of soda and add turmeric for yellow khichi or leave both out and make white khichi. I’ve tried them all and prefer to add both. The recipe will work either way. The choice is yours.

Here I’ve shared my recipe for both classic rice flour khichi or papdi no lot, as well as a more playful recipe for a dish I’ve called Sticky, Crispy Chilli Khichi which is perfect for using up leftover khichi. It’s a play on popular Indian restaurant dishes like Chilli Paneer, Chilli Mogo and Chilli Idli which use Chinese ingredients like soy sauce and 5-spice. Similar to the recipe for Sizzling Chilli Idli I posted a couple of years back.

The khichi are dusted in cornflour and fried until crispy on the outside. Right before serving they are tossed in an intense sticky chilli sauce with lots of veg. Don’t be put off by the amount of ginger, chillies and garlic – it’s a lot but necessary to stand up to the somewhat plain rice flour khichi. It’s a delicious starter and a new, creative take on a Gujarati classic. My recipe for Sticky, Crispy Chilli Khichi serves six hungry people.

Khichi or Papdi no Lot (Gujarati Steamed Rice Flour Dumplings)

Makes 20 regular-sized khichi or 40 mini khichi

Ingredients
225g rice flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 green chillies, chopped
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
600ml water
1 tbsp oil

1/4 tsp ajwain
1 tsp cumin seeds

Method

1. Mix together the rice flour and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Add the cumin seeds and ajwain. Allow them to sizzle momentarily. Next, add the chopped chillies and ginger. Sauté until aromatic, about 30 seconds.

3. Add the water and tip in all of the rice flour mixture into the pan and beat with a wooden spoon. The mixture may seem lumpy at first but keep beating and it will come together as a soft dough. Cool for about a minute, beating vigorously all the time. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly.

4. Set up a large metal steamer that fits multiple baskets inside. You’ll need about 2L of hot water in the base and to grease the holed baskets with oil to stop the khichi sticking.

5. When the mixture is still very warm but cool enough to handle, grease your hands with a little oil and make golf ball-sized rounds with the dough. Flatten slightly and use your thumb to make a deep indentation in the middle of each disc. Repeat until you have used up all the dough. Arrange the khichi inside the baskets, leaving space around each one as they will inflate slightly.

6. Place the baskets inside the steamer and close with a tight-fitting lid. Cook on a high heat for 18 minutes exactly. Switch the steamer off and leave covered for 5 minutes.

7. Remove the lid and take the khichi out, placing them on a plate. Brush with oil to stop them sticking together.

8. Serve with oil for dipping.

Leftover khichi can be cut into bite-sized pieces used to make Crispy Chilli Khichi, a delicious starter dish we created and love at home.

Note: if making khichi to use for Chilli Khichi straight away, I like to make little ping pong ball-sized khichi (about half the size of the regular classic kind). If you do this, the recipe above will make approximately 40 small khichis which are perfectly bite-sized.

Sticky, Crispy Chilli Khichi

Serves 6

Ingredients
40 mini khichi
2 tbsp + 3 tsp cornflour
2-inch piece ginger, peeled and julienned
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
4 hot thin bird’s eye chillies
3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce (I use Mae Ploy Sweet Chilli Sauce)
4 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Sriracha
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce (I use Mama Sita’s Vegetarian Oyster Sauce)
250ml hot water
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp Chinese 5-spice
3 mixed peppers, chopped into bite-sized pieces
3 red onions, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 large tomato, choppef into bite-sized pieces
Oil to deep fry

Method

1. Heat enough oil in a heavy-bottomed pan to deep fry the khichi. The oil temperature should be 180C. Dust the mini khichi in 2 tbsp cornflour and fry in small batches until golden and crispy on the outside, about 5 minutes. Drain on a plate lined with a paper towel and set aside.

2. Heat a large wok until smoking hot. Don’t add any oil. In one go, add in the onions, peppers and tomatoes. Allow the veggies to char lightly and develop a smoky flavour, about 8 minutes. Stir only once or twice. Remove the veggies from the wok and set aside for later.

3. To make the sauce, add 2 tbsp oil to the wok and scatter in the sesame seeds, chillies, garlic and ginger. Sauté briefly. Add the soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce, sriracha, 5-spice, brown sugar, paprika, water and salt. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Mix 3 tsp cornflour with 1 tsp cold water and stir to create a smooth paste. Add to the simmering sauce and stir continually until thickened slightly, about 2 minutes.

5. Heat the sauce through and toss everything together immediately before serving. Garnish with chillies, ginger and sesame seeds.

100% approved by baby K.O!

Love Sanjana

The post Sticky, Crispy Chilli Khichi (Gujarati Rice Flour Dumplings) appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

These days I love to add rose to lots of dishes from sweet to savoury, but mostly sweet. I’ve got a tonne of rose recipes on the blog, some of my favourites being Strawberry Cheesecake Falooda, Eggless Rose Custard Creams, Pistachio and Rose Bombay Halwa, Cardamom Wreath with Rose Drizzle and Candied Lemon Peel. A dash of rose water also doesn’t go amiss in biryani, ice cream and of course, cake.

Here I’ve dunked chewy toasted coconut macaroons in a simple rose icing made with icing sugar and rose syrup – the bright pink kind you find in Indian shops. One of my pregnancy cravings has been rose milk reminiscent of my falooda-crazy days. I add a dash to cold milk and stir for a strawberry pink milkshake that’s so refreshing without the faff of having to make a true falooda.

The macaroons are eggless, switching in a trusty can of sweetened condensed milk instead of egg whites. The result is a delicious, toasty coconut cookie with a coconut ice-like centre. After they’ve cooled, the bottoms get dunked in the rose icing and chopped toasted pistachios. Pistachio and rose are a flavour combo I’d like to eat every day for the rest of my life – I’m obsessed.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy 6-ingredient cookie that’s both egg and gluten free, this one’s for you.

Dust with icing sugar for a pretty snow-topped peak. So pretty!

Eggless Pistachio-Rose Macaroons
Makes 25 macaroons

For the macaroons:
1 x 397g tin sweetened condensed milk
300g sweetened desiccated coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the rose icing:
140g icing sugar
4 tbsp rose syrup

Icing sugar to dust, optional

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/320°F. It’s really important you do this. The oven needs to be HOT or the cookies will melt into flat puddles. Grease and line 2 large baking trays with greaseproof paper and butter.

2. In a large bowl, combine the coconut, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and bicarbonate of soda until you have a thick pliable mixture.

3. Divide the mixture into 25 equal balls and shape each one into a teardrop shape. Arrange on the pre-lined baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden and toasted on the outside. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

4. To make the icing, mix the icing sugar and rose syrup until you have a thick, drippy pink icing. Dip the bottom of the cooled macaroons in the icing and then into the chopped pistachios. Sit them back onto a lined baking tray. Allow to set at room temperature for a few hours.

5. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

The macaroons will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for a week. Although I doubt they’ll last that long.

The post Eggless Pistachio-Rose Macaroons appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

I’m truly comforted if the steam is robust enough to reach my nostrils quickly, the familiar smell bringing instant comfort. When it’s warm enough to hold, I like to clutch the mug with both hands, tight enough to feel my arms tense up a bit, rather like embracing an old friend.

That goes back to the days I’d refuse to go to bed until I’d had a mug of saffron, cardamom and almond milk. Yorkshire diva. It was a treat reserved for special occasions or following on from particularly terrifying nightmares.

I’d watch my mum preparing it, her skilled hands flaking each almond, one at a time. She’d then use a brass pestle and mortar to bash a cardamom pod with the satisfying clang, not unlike the sound of a temple bell ringing after arti.

The Spanish saffron strands would stain the warm milk a sort of daffodil yellow, making it appear rich and luxurious, like clotted jersey cream. Once simmered together, the kitchen would be filled with the sweetest smell which in itself was soothing enough to send me to the land of nod, even before it reached my lips.

Milo love

Another hot drink I fell in love with at a young age was that old classic, Milo. I had my first taste aged four in Mombasa, Kenya. All us cousins would have hot Milo made for us at breakfast and before bed and Milo time was my favourite time of the day.

Some of us were such fans that the granules were good enough to be munched straight up, by the spoonful.  And when I say some of us, I mean me.

That faux choco malt flavour tastes like all the comforts of home. It’s sweet but not overly so and somehow you feel like you’re replenishing your body’s energy stores with it.

Just as well too because we used to spend a hell of a lot of time running around the agasi (roof terrace), throwing things down below and shouting for the man from the shop across the road to fetch us the bubblegum that had stickers under the wrapper.

But I had to grow up from being that Milo-drinking, bubblegum-chewing kid from the roof one day. Now I’m preparing to welcome a fresh new little person into the world and quite soon I’ll be the one preparing those warm bedtime beverages.

So this post is an ode to the old times of being comforted and feeling loved throughout my entire childhood. I’m ready to pay it forward to someone else now. And what better way to celebrate them than with a cake that has all the flavours of Milo?

Baby Feasts. Due April 2018.

Eggless Malted Chocolate Whipped Ganache Cake
Makes one 3-layer, 10-inch cake

Ingredients:

700g plain flour
510g caster sugar
150g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
180ml buttermilk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
6 tbsp Milo dissolved in 320ml hot water
300ml sunflower oil
1 tsp salt

For the whipped ganache:
450g dark chocolate, chopped
450g double cream
3 tbsp malt extract
Pinch of salt

Dark and white chocolate curls, to decorate

Method:

1. For the chocolate cake, preheat oven to 160C and butter and line three 20cm diameter cake tins with baking paper. Whisk together all the dry ingredients. Combine all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Whisk until smooth. Divide among prepared tins, bake until a skewer inserted comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, loosen around the edges with a knife and turn onto wire racks to cool completely.

2. For the whipped ganache frosting, heat the cream in a saucepan until hot but not boiling. Add the malt extract and chopped chocolate. Stir gently until melted and smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature and then cover and refrigerate until it has thickened slightly but is still soft. Beat with an electric whisk until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. It will become paler in colour, too. Use immediately.

3. Trim the cakes if the tops have domed a little. Sandwich each layer with the whipped ganache frosting. Spread the frosting on the outside and smooth out. I used a Wilton 1M open star tip for the ruffled swirls on top. Decorate with chocolate curls.

Love Sanjana + bump

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Aquafaba, or chickpea brine is the magical egg white alternative rocking the vegan food world. From Vegan Macarons, to Pavlova, Meringue Nests, Meringue Kisses and even vegan cheese, the discovery of aquafaba by Goose Wohlt opens up a whole lot of possibilities for eating the foods you love and sticking to a vegan diet.

As many of you already know, I love playing around with this ingredient, conjuring up my own takes on dishes I adore, and all the while veganizing them for my family, friends and you fantastic people.

My favourite Sunday morning ritual when I have friends or family over is to start on a big batch of pancakes while everyone’s still asleep. Not only does it make the entire house smell like the inside of a bakery that just had a massive vanilla cake eruption, it also ensures I get a huge smile and hug from everyone when they come downstairs. And I love a good cuddle, me.

With the pears, these pancakes become extra special. The light, fluffy, crispy pancakes soak up all that vanilla and cardamom-spiced syrup like little sponge frisbees you’ll want to play with all day long. The pears offer a very welcome fresh, tender, and juicy texture that’s perfect for balancing out the fluffy richness of the pancakes.

This is my basic vegan aquafaba pancake recipe for sweet pancakes. If poached pears aren’t your thing, you could add blueberries, raspberries or chocolate chips (pop them on top of each scoop of pancake batter before the pancake has a chance to cook through on the pan).

A photo posted by SANJANA • K.O RASOI (@sanjanamodha) on Aug 20, 2016 at 4:18am PDT

I’ve even adapted this recipe (skipped the sugar and vanilla) to make savoury pancakes with chillies, vegan cheese and corn. Weirdly, I like to top those with a drizzle of golden syrup, too. If you have a soft spot for sweet and salty combinations, I recommend it!

Fluffy Vegan Aquafaba Pancakes with Vanilla-Cardamom Poached Pears
Serves 4

For the vegan aquafaba pancakes:
275g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp fine salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
325ml almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
100ml water from a can of chickpeas
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp groundnut oil, plus extra for the pan

For the pears:
4 Williams pears, slightly underripe
600ml water
200g golden syrup
100g golden caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla pod, split lengthwise and scraped
6 whole cardamom pods, roughly crushed (leave the pod on)

Method

1. To make the poached pears: Place the sugar, golden syrup and water in a deep saucepan. Bring to the boil and add the cardamom pods and vanilla bean paste.

2. Peel the pears, keeping the stalk attached and slice them down the middle. Remove the pear cores.

3. Place the pears in the saucepan and ensure they’re completely submerged. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the pears to cool completely in the syrup.

4. Once the pears have had a chance to cool completely, remove them from the syrup and bring the syrup back to the boil. Allow to simmer until it has reduced by half and is sticky and syrupy.

5. To make the vegan aquafaba pancakes: Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

6. Mix together the almond milk, apple cider vinegar, sugar, vanilla, and groundnut oil. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes and then whisk briefly.

7. In a large, clean bowl of a stand mixer, whip the chickpea liquid until stiff peaks form. You could also use an electric beater.

8. Add the wet almond milk mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until just combined. It’s important not to over mix this.

9. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the whipped chickpea meringue into the batter until you have a light, foamy batter. Try your best not to deflate the mixture by mixing too much.

10. Heat up a large non-stick pan greased with groundnut oil. You want a low-medium heat. Not too high or the pancakes will burn before they get a chance to cook through.

11. Use an ice cream scoop to dollop the pancake batter on to the pan so that you get even-sized pancakes. Ensure you leave some space around each pancake as the mixture will spread slightly.

12. Allow to cook until small bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake and the edges lose their raw shine, about 40 seconds.

13. Flip and cook briefly on the other side. Remove from the heat. Repeat to make the rest of the pancakes.

Serve with the poached pears and pour the extra syrup into a jug for drizzling over the pancakes like glorious waterfall. Dive in quickly and with purpose.

What are your favourite pancake add-ins and toppings? Let me know in the comments below and let’s see if we can re-create some of them here.

Love Sanjana

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